Against All Odds
by Christina B
Summary: When Wedge Antilles is one of the sole survivors of the battle of Yavin how does he deal with his grief and how will he ever move forward? Very AU! One-shot!


My dare is this: Write from any rebel's perspective shortly after Episode IV but with a twist, Han Solo was too slow and Luke Skywalker is killed, the Death Star was not destroyed and the rebel base was. It must include at least three lines from Queen's Don't Stop Me Now

**Against All Odds**

_Tonight I'm __gonna__ have myself a real good time_

_I feel alive __And the world _

_I'll turn it inside out yeah_

_I'm floating around in ecstasy_

_So don't stop me now_

_Don't stop me__'cause _

_I'm having a good time_

_Having a good time_

Wedge Antilles grinned as he felt the powerful thrusters of his X-wing beneath him. There was nothing in the galaxy that gave him so much joy as moments like these. He felt so incredibly free, it was just him and his ship, nothing else existed. He still got the same thrill out of piloting his X-wing that he did the first time he ever flew.

Wedge heard voices speaking over the battle net. He listened and spoke. "Red Two standing by."

Several other wings reported in and after that the Red Leader spoke. "Lock S-foils in attack position."

Wedge followed the command, and made his last minute preparations for their attack on the Death Star. It was undeniably dangerous of course; his ship could so easily be blasted into space dust in moments. But Wedge refused to think about that, he had a job to do. And it was a job he loved.

_Don't stop me now_

_I'm having such a good time_

_I'm having a ball _

_Don't stop me now_

_If you __wanna__ have a good time_

_Just give me a call_

_So don't stop me now_

_'cause I'm having a good time_

_Don't stop me now_

_Yes I'm having a good time_

_I don't __wanna__ stop at all_

Wedge watched in absolute shock as the small green planet burst flames, within moments it was as if the planet never existed. Wedge nearly choked because at that moment he nearly felt his heart shattered. The Rebellion lost! Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were dead, as well as so many good people.

Wedge cursed, he should've been there. An unavoidable event ensured that he was safe, but the cost was so great that he felt in some way he should've been with them. Yes he would've died, but he would've died fighting for what he knew was right.

He looked at the planet shaped battle station and a great rage consumed him. There it was sitting in space, taunting Wedge with its very existence. How dare they do this! The Empire was horrible, and he hated it his whole life, but this catastrophe only made it worse. The fact that the Death Star remained and the Rebel Base was gone was something that would be spread across the holonet in a matter of hours, and it would continue to fuel the Empire propaganda.

_It was a good plan, it should've worked._ This thought ran over and over in Wedge's mind as he thought again about the battle that had taken the lives of so many of his friends. The Rebellion against the Empire lost a battle they should never have lost and now things were worse…Much worse. Not only had the Death Star not been destroyed, but it destroyed Yavin IV, the Rebel base. Their force was significantly diminished and Wedge was one of the few survivors.

Everyone knew the odds they faced. Leia recounted the horror that the Death Star wrought upon Alderaan and nobody doubt the accuracy of it. The Empire's ultimate weapon was never going to stop destroying worlds until the Rebellion did something about it. Their plan was risky; it was the first real major strike against the Empire. Everyone in the Rebellion knew it had to work, and no one considered the risks.

Wedge remembered that in the war room, he had voiced his concern. "That's impossible, even for a computer," he'd said at the time.

But it was Luke, optimistic, innocent Luke that had allayed his fears. "It's not impossible. I used to bull's-eye womp rats in my T sixteen back home. They're not much bigger than two meters."

And now even Luke was gone, another victim of the Empire.

Wedge was a survivor and really he only survived by luck. His ship was damaged in the fight, and he was able to get away from the bulk of the fighting while he accessed his damages. At the time it bothered Wedge that he would not be able to help his friends continue the fight, but he knew that Luke had a better chance than anyone of getting the job done.

But the cold hard truth was that Luke didn't make it. Moments before Luke was going to send his proton torpedoes into the Death Star, a TIE interceptor killed him. Luke was the only person who had any shot of finishing the job, and the Empire won again.

Wedge swallowed another large mouthful of the alcoholic beverage he was holding and felt as the burning liquid seared his throat and congealed in his stomach. For days the Rebel pilot was trying to drown out his remorse and grief at a cantina, but it did little to abate his emotions. Sitting next to him was the smuggler Han Solo who looked just as bad as Wedge felt.

Solo and his Wookiee companion also felt horrible about what happened at Yavin. Wedge knew Solo's story about how he ended up at the Rebel base only because he ended up helped to rescue Princess Leia. The battle came quickly, long before Han had the opportunity to escape with his pay. And now the smuggler felt guilty about what happened.

As a fellow Corellian, Wedge found that he could talk very easily to him. Solo told Wedge how he saw the jam that Luke Skywalker was in and he was trying to do something about it. His ship, the Millennium Falcon, was struck by a plasma bolt and it prevented him from helping Skywalker. One minute later he was dead, and two minutes later Yavin IV was completely obliterated.

"What's that?" Solo asked, referring to a soft consistent beeping sound.

Startled, Wedge pulled out his comlink and was shocked to see that it was the coded signal from the Rebellion. Noticing that nobody was glancing their way, Wedge accepted the transmission and engaged the small holoprojector. A miniaturized image of Mon Mothma appeared.

"Captain Antilles," she said in surprise. "You survived."

Wedge was shocked. "Barely," he muttered.

"The tragedy we've suffered was the Empire's way of trying to defeat us," Mothma explained.

"Looks like they did a good job," Solo retorted, overhearing it from where he was seated.

Wedge just nodded glumly.

"They've won a major victory yes," Mothma agreed. "But it's not over. Ever since the start of the Rebellion, we've been the underdog in this undertaking. We've been down and out before, but our comeback will take the Empire by surprise."

"Sound like pretty pitiful odds to me," Solo said.

"The odds can change," Mon Mothma replied steadily. "They have changed in the past and they will change in our future."

Listening to Mon Mothma, Wedge knew she was absolutely right. The Empire was powerful, but even they could be defeated. And he wanted to be there when it happened. Actually he knew he was going to be there, when they finally beat the odds.

"I'll be there," Wedge declared.

Han sighed irritated, but then he spoke. "This goes against my better judgment, but I'm coming too. Then maybe that kid and the Princess won't have died for nothing."

"Well then," Mon Mothma said with a gentle smile. "We have work to do.


End file.
